Most Recent Episodes

You’ve never heard of Humberto Vélez — but you know exactly who he is.
At the start of this century, the dubbing industry in Mexico was living in a golden age. Some of the actors and actresses who dubbed TV shows and movies into Spanish became cultural icons in Latin America. So, why did all this suddenly change?
You can read the Spanish transcript of the episode or an English translation.
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Our ninth season is just one week away! We’re very excited to share with you everything we have been working on in the past few months, and that’s why we have prepared this trailer: a sneak peak of the upcoming stories.

Muslim, radical, terrorist. That's how the authorities described her. Marilú

Muslim, radical, terrorist. That\'s how the authorities described her. Marilú didn\'t recognize herself.
You can read the Spanish transcript of the episode or read the English translation.
Listen to the first episode right here.
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For Marilú, what started as a spiritual transformation would end with an arrest before dawn and her life turned upside down.
You can read a Spanish transcript of the episode.
You can also read an English translation.
If you want to get our new episodes via WhatsApp, please text us at +573229502192. You can also join Radio Ambulante’s Closed Facebook group to discuss with others around each week’s story.
*Correction: In the episode we say that the Spanish Minister of the Interior in 2015 is José Fernández Díaz. His name is Jorge Fernández Díaz.

The last one to leave, turn out the lights.
You can read a Spanish transcript of the episode.
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Speaking Spanish properly...? Well, it\'s complicated.
You can read a Spanish transcript of the episode.
You can also read an English translation.
If you want to get our new episodes via WhatsApp, please text us at +573229502192. You can also join Radio Ambulante’s Closed Facebook group to discuss with others around each week’s story.

Is it ever OK to help someone die? Carlos Framb had to ask himself this question when his mom started to lose her desire to live.
You can read a Spanish transcript of the episode.
You can also read an English translation.
If you want to get our new episodes via Whatsapp, please text us at +573229502192. You can also join Radio Ambulante’s Closed Facebook group to discuss with others around each week’s story.

The word of two Guatemalan migrant women versus that of the largest and one of the most secretive law enforcement agencies in the United States. What does it take to believe women who decide to come forward?
You can read a Spanish transcript of the episode.
You can also read an English translation.
If you want to get our new episodes via WhatsApp, please text us at +573229502192. You can also join Radio Ambulante’s Closed Facebook group to discuss with others around each week’s story.

With a mic in one hand, a diet Coke on the other, Luis Fernando is transformed.
You can read a Spanish transcript of the episode.
You can also read an English translation.
If you want to get our new episodes via WhatsApp, please text us at +573229502192. You can also join Radio Ambulante’s Closed Facebook group to discuss with others around each week’s story.

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With the rerun of the episode \"The Contestant\", on NPR, we\'d like to share with our listeners the song \"Basta Carajo\", that plays at the end of the story. This song was written by Vilma Sánchez, the mother of Ruth Thalía. Here, you can listen to a cappella version that Vilma sang for us on the day of her interview.

David Pastor interviewed José de la O and Miguel Melgarejo, the creators of Fuera de Contexto, a podcast about design and innovation.
For those who haven’t heard an episode of Fuera de Contexto, what is the podcast about?
José and Miguel: We tell stories about people that use their ingenuity and creativity to resolve some kind of problem and/or achieve a dream. In the beginning, our podcast was primarily focused on designers and people working in creative fields, but we’ve realized that these types of stories are also very universal, and can connect with people that aren’t necessarily familiar with these disciplines.
Fuera de Contexto is a totally independent podcast. We don’t have the support of a network or public radio, which means there are a lot of challenges, but also a lot of freedom. We like to think that it’s a modern version of the Fanzine, with nothing in terms of budget, but with a lot of attitude and character.
How did the podcast get started? In other words, what was the initial motivation?
José and Miguel: The two of us met while we were both working in the Netherlands and we realized that we were among the few Mexicans we knew that had a love and a passion for podcasts. That was a key factor in forming our friendship, and eventually we ventured into this project together.
The exact moment of its birth came when José returned to live in México. Both of us saw it as an opportunity to continue exchanging ideas and to link our contacts in order to generate strong stories for our setting.
Still, to be honest, the biggest motivation has always been to start from nothing, to challenge ourselves, to get to know people and stories --and to share those stories with the world.
The podcast is still a very new medium, and some people have never used it or don’t know what it consists of. How do you present the podcast to new listeners?
José and Miguel: The easiest way is to take your cell phone, show them how to use a podcast app, and download our favorite episodes (of our podcast and of others) right there on the spot so that they can listen later on and fall in love with the medium like we did. Unfortunately, this isn’t a very efficient way of reaching a sustainable amount of listeners.
What we have tried to do is to contact other podcasts that we like (like Radio Ambulante, for instance) and look for opportunities to collaborate in different ways. We firmly believe that more than promoting our podcast, we have to foster attractive offerings in our language for the public. Only then will we be able to make podcasting grow as a medium in the region. It hasn’t been easy, even though we are on our way to making these types of partnerships.
What kinds of things do you have in store for the next season of Fuera de Contexto?
José and Miguel: We’re giving ourselves a little time to recharge, to explore stories, and find inspiration. We hope to launch the new season in the second part of 2016 with fun, daring stories that aren’t necessarily directly related to design or creation itself.
We have an eclectic list of episodes that we would like to do in the future. We have a story in the works about a really interesting house by the architect Luis Barragán. We also have one about the history of certain mysterious and illicit drinks available in some parts of Mexico, and even a live episode we hope to be able to produce soon, among other things. Fortunately, Mexico is a very fertile place for interesting stories.
Are there other Spanish-language podcasts that you listen to regularly?
José and Miguel: We have a few in mind. José de la O used to listen to Olallo Rubio’s podcast (who is about to launch a podcast platform in this country that seems promising). We know of other shows and platforms that we respect but wouldn’t be able to say we listen to regularly (Puentes, Podcastería, Disruptivo, etc.)
In general we haven’t found a strong offering of podcasts in Spanish that tell stories in a creative, absorbing, and interesting way.
What do you think the podcast offers radio in general and its Latin American audience?
José and Miguel: The podcast (at least in Mexico) is a barely explored medium. Many people, mostly those who produce traditional radio, see the podcast as an alternative of the same product, not as a new medium that has the potential to give its listeners a completely different experience, which is where we think it reaches its true potential.
There are fewer and fewer media outlets available in Latin America that allow listeners to empathize, in a creative and original way, with a completely different person. In this region, we are filled with media that, instead of celebrating our reality, ignore it, cover it up, exaggerate it, and ridicule it. We think the podcast, because it is such an intimate setting, can help us to turn and look at ourselves with pride, fun, amusement, and sincerity.

If Peruvians are finally sick of hearing about their food, maybe now is the time to recognize what should be called “the other boom.” I’m referring, of course, to the marketing boom of the last decade.
Beginning in 2006 with a promotional campaign entitled “Peru mucho gusto,” the government hasn’t been shy about exploiting the success of Peruvian cuisine abroad. In 2010, they launched Marca Peru, by far one of the most successful nation branding campaigns in the world–winning major awards in the process.
But what exactly is nation branding? Well, the concept was developed by an Argentine named Roberto Occhipinti. He coined the term in 1989 and went on to publish a book about it in 2003. It’s basically a way of engaging other countries politically, culturally, and economically.
In the case of Peru, world renown chef Gaston Acurio has around 20% of the vote if he decides to run in next year’s presidential election. So yeah, there’s a connection between food and politics even if it’s not that serious. In terms of culture, Peru has more than 80 culinary institutes and more than 80,000 trained chefs. Lima also hosts Mistura, the largest food festival in Latin America. And if your town doesn’t have a Peruvian restaurant yet, it’s a little embarrassing at this point, no? As for economics, the tourism industry doesn’t revolve around Machu Picchu anymore. In 2013, 40% of visitors to Peru said they were there just to try the food.
In other words, nation branding works really well–especially when you have a good product and a good story to tell. Peru has both and the two happen to share a close connection. In 1999, the New York Times published an incredibly prescient article on Peruvian cuisine citing these two factors. Despite the culturally insensitive tone of the article, they did refer to Peruvian food as “the original fusion food.” The rest is history. 500 years of fusion, no pun intended. Actually, Gaston Acurio wrote a book with that title.
Other countries have launched similar campaigns. A few years ago, I was walking in the subway when I noticed a giant poster that said The Answer is Colombia. That campaign was launched in 2012 as an attempt to show the world that Colombia was no longer the cocaine capital of the world, but rather a safe and vibrant tourist destination. And it worked, which is why other countries are trying to do the same.
Earlier this year, Ecuador spent $3.8 million on a 30 second Super Bowl ad to promote tourism. More effective than the commercial? The shock caused Ecuador purchasing the expensive ad. They went with a Beatles-inspired slogan All You Need is Ecuador, which is part of an ambitious program to grow the country’s tourism in the next five years. There are lot more examples. The list goes on. Nowadays, most countries have some kind of nation branding campaign.
Technically, the concept is nothing new. During the Franco era, Spain launched an infamous slogan called Spain is Different in the 1960s. This came after years of unsuccessful attempts to change the image of a country that had isolated itself from the rest of Europe. It was a complete makeover. Like Peru, Spanish cuisine became well regarded. Like Colombia, Spain became an exotic destination for tourism. The phrase was so popular that it has evolved into an inside joke for Spaniards as a way of describing a bizarre situation that could only happen in Spain.
In the end, nationalism itself is a bizarre concept, an inside joke that we don’t always agree on or appreciate. Benedict Anderson famously defined a nation as an “imagined political community.” The keyword is political. Otherwise, it sounds like he’s talking about the Internet. In terms of nationalism, it has become a marketing strategy–something Peruvians have turned into an art…so much so that they may want to consider stepping out of the kitchen.
If you want to listen to our latest episode about Peruvian Cuisine click here.

The other day, I put out a call on Facebook, asking my friends for their opinion on a most controversial matter - is pisco Peruvian or Chilean? For centuries, the two South American countries have been fighting over the origins of the brandy-like distilled wine, that is quickly gaining popularity in Europe and North America.
As soon as I posted the question, I braced myself for a heated debate, expecting sentiments of indignation to far outweigh the number of clicked “likes” on my wall.
I had reason to believe so. From 2005-2006, I studied in Santiago de Chile, where -- over the course of innumerable pisco sours -- I was indoctrinated about the origins of the “national drink.”
I was even coerced into traveling to the town Pisco Elqui -- its alleged birthplace -- where I would tour a distillery and believe every factoid they told me about pisco.
But a few months into my year abroad, I visited Cuzco, where I was immediately instructed to “unlearn” every ounce of history that had I had absorbed into my liver.
“Pisco is Peruvian,” every waiter would announce as they served me perfectly frothy pisco sours. “Chileans just take credit for it.” In fact - many cuzqueños would point out - Peru also has a city named Pisco. And it’s older than the Chilean town with the same name. So there.
So when I beckoned my Facebook friends to comment on the origins of pisco, I was expecting a virtual battleground.
The first few lines of my friend Sonia’s response corroborated my theory. The daughter of a Peruvian and a Chilean, her post began with a dramatic “Ay, Caro...IT’S PERUVIAN! My parents got divorced precisely due to this controversy.”
But as she elaborated her thoughts, it became evident that Sonia knew the importance that the drink has in both places. She noted that it’s consumed during different occasions, depending on socio-cultural settings in Peru, but that it is also very well marketed by Chileans.
My friend Andrés, a chef who lived in Chile for many years, wrote: “Pisco originated in Peru, so technically, it’s Peruvian. However, it is far more a part of people’s day-to-day life in Chile, meaning it is as Chilean as a tomato-based pasta sauce is Italian. Tomatoes are originally from the Americas, but, without a doubt Italians have made tomatoes their own, too.”
And then there was my friend Alejandro, who simply wrote: “I don’t care. As long as we can drink it, it’s all good.”
In November 2013, the international community sided with Peru. The European Commission officially declared the Peruvian city of Pisco as the original birthplace of the drink, granting the country immediate market protection within the European Union. But this official recognition does not prevent Chile from continuing to refer to its home-produced beverage by its name, nor has it prevented the country from producing approximately 50 million litres of pisco, annually.
So why does the battle continue? Why does Chile continue to push for ‘ownership’ of pisco when, ultimately, they can still sell it on the global market, and continue to refer to it as they always have?
Because gastronomy and national pride are inextricably linked. Because food is how cultures pass down tradition, experience, and knowledge. Because your national dish or drink is usually one of the first things you mention when speaking about your country to someone else. And because -- when we dare challenge our national, gastronomic narrative - we run the risk of being shunned by our co-patriots. My Chilean friend Nicolás’ reflection on Facebook pretty much sums up the sentiment:
“No matter how un-Chilean this may sound, Peruvian [pisco] is of much better quality. But I didn’t say that out loud.”
If you want to listen to our latest episode about Peruvian Cuisine click here